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Asian Tiger Enters the Land of Diversity: Cultural Adaptations for South Korean Businesses in India

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Abstract

‘Come, Make in India’, India’s Prime Minister has invited global firms to invest and manufacture in India and also to promote exports. As with this campaign, India has given a scope of promising growth to the companies which is also been seen to solve India’s multiple economic problems. Many countries have shown their interest to invest in India and one of them is South Korea. Now the question arises whether companies from South Korea in this competitive environment can mark their presence in India—a nation of cultural diversity, which can affect the initial start-ups, if ignored. Apart from the historical cultural ties, there are cross-cultural differences between South Korea and India. So, this paper aims to build up a study that brings together the parity and cross-cultural differences between South Korea and India. The paper opens with the discussion about the various historical, cultural and poetic relations to describe the scenario between the two countries, whereas for the analysis, a macro-meso-micro framework has been used to answer the research question. The three-level analysis helps this paper to see the overlooked influence of culture from a broader perspective. The results of the study reveal a list of cultural adaptations suited for South Korean start-ups to run businesses in India by avoiding the cultural threats and contribute to the existing literature. The study findings could be used by companies, marketers and practitioners to devise and re-vamp their strategies in India, and it will also serve as a cultural guide for them.

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Sharma, S., Dahiya, R. Asian Tiger Enters the Land of Diversity: Cultural Adaptations for South Korean Businesses in India. East Asia 33, 157–173 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-016-9253-y

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